


With Sound Minds and Bright Eyes

by simpleEnthusiast



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Angst, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Robot Feels, fanbot, references to World War II
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-02-26 11:44:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18716383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpleEnthusiast/pseuds/simpleEnthusiast
Summary: Zero finds a broken down robot in the gardens of Walter Manor, but she can't speak.   She also seems very, Very familiar.  Didn't she like to play checkers?  And wasn't there another boy with her?Who is this strange robot and is she really one of their own? Or is there something more sinister going on here?  The answer could be yes to both at the same time.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> First off, let me say that this is not related in any way to my co-written universe with user ClockworkCreation. Siren and Void are my own fanbots and this is their story. 
> 
> Second, comments and kudos fuel my muse, so please leave them, even if it's something as simple as a emoji.
> 
> Some liberties have been taken with the population of Walter Manor at certain points in time. SPG lore is spotty at best, but I've tried to stay as true to the official timeline as possible.
> 
> Please be warned that some heavy topics will be referenced in this story. Tags will be added as appropriate, so please mind them. But for now, please enjoy this little teaser!
> 
>  
> 
> Words in [brackets] denote Sign Language. Works in {Fancy Brackets} denote Wi-Fi or text messages between Walter 'bots and staff.

_ August 2017 _

Siren paced what little space there was in the room she shared with Void.  He'd been gone for hours, far longer than he usually was. She hated being alone in this dark little room.  It was far too much like the closet Peter II had locked her in so many years ago.

The door opened and Void entered, hissing out steam as the door shut behind him.   "Void?" Siren laid her hand on his upper arm. "Are you--"

"The children we saved.   They have grown. Now they are here."

"I cannot do this anymore, Siren.  This must end." Void vented steam again.  "I wish Three had never created me."

"Don't say that."  Siren mumbled. "Please.  Don't leave me alone, Void."

"I will not leave you.  But... it might be time to enact our plan."  Void risked looking up to meet her optics, despite knowing he wouldn't cause her any harm, not like the humans whose minds were so fragile.

"Void..."  Siren didn’t care for the strange finality in his voice.

Void vented steam again, dropping his gaze.  “You must help me, Siren. I cannot… Three programmed me to be unable to damage myself.  Two programmed you with an out.”

“I… I do not think you must blind yourself.”   Siren sighed. “You could simply… hide your optics.  There are glasses… or even a piece of cloth tied around your head…”

“Too risky.  The glasses could fall.  The cloth could be dislodged.  It is like your Frequency Modulator.  Better to render it useless than to simply hope that it is not used by mistake… or by force.”

Siren blinked.  “At least let us wait… until we’re out of the Complex.  I’m expected to be silent unless being used. Your eyes… you are not blinded while not being used.”   
  
Void nodded.  “Acceptable.” He sighed.  “We should wait until night.  There will be fewer people.”   
  
“Agreed.”   


* * *

“HEY THE SPINE!”  Rabbit’s voice jolted her brother from his stasis nap.  “W-w-wake up!”

“Rabbit!” The Spine’s vertebral column twitched angrily as he settled himself into his chassis.  “It’s four in the morning!”

‘So?  We d-d-don’t sleep.”

The Spine rolled his eyes.  “What is it?” 

“Zero wanted to play firetr-tr-trucks.”

“Alright?  Why didn’t he just come ask me himself?”  The Spine vented steam as he adjusted his hat on his head.  

“He’s tangled up in the volleyball net.”

“I… what?”

“We were trying to play volleyball, and he fell into the net and the net got all tangled up in his c-c-c-cables.”  Rabbit shrugged. “I tried getting him out, but I think I only made it worse.”

“And Chelsea and Camille are asleep.”  The Spine nodded. “Alright, I’ll get Zero untangled, then we’ll play firetrucks.”   
  
“Yay!”

~~~

The Spine’s fins slid out of his back as he finally got a look at his youngest brother.  “Zero… how?” 

Zero looked up with a sheepish smirk. “I thought I could try getting out on my own, and then well, I thought I was getting somewhere, cuz everything was looser, then I looked over and the net poles were out of the ground.”

The Spine pinched the bridge of his nose and gave a long-suffering sigh.  “It’s a wonder Peter VI doesn’t keep up offline while not performing.” He muttered before kneeling at Zero’s side, gently unravelling Zero’s cranial cables from the netting.  

“But Peter’s nice!” Zero smiled.  “He wouldn’t do anything mean to any of us.  He’s not like Two and Three when they-  _ ksssshk _ !” A burst of static from his vocal processor made The Spine stop.  

“You alright?”

“...Yeah.  I think so anyway.”  Zero frowned and looked up at Rabbit, who stood over him with concern written on her faceplate.  “I… I thought I remembered something…. But I guess I didn’t.”

“M-m-m-maybe you did.” Rabbit pursed her lips.  “Maybe it was kinda like how w-w-w-we had to forget Hatchy for a while.”

The Spine vented steam. “Don’t stress your processor Zero.” He paused, focusing on a particularly tough tangle.  “If we had to forget something, I’m sure there’s a good reason for it.”

Rabbit shook her head sadly, “Not always, The Spine.” 

The Spine didn’t respond. 

* * *

The night sky was beautiful. Even moreso than the few pictures they’d been able to glimpse on computer screens.  Siren gazed up at the twinkling stars through the trees. 

Void glanced up at the sky, then dropped his gaze back to earth.  It wasn’t like they’d ever get a chance to go to space. And even if they did… he wouldn’t be able to see it.  No point in pining over something he’d never get a chance to hold. “Siren. We must continue now.”

She vented steam, frowning as she raised her hands, making quick gestures. [How will we communicate?  You will not be able to see my signs.]

“It will be difficult, yes.  But I will be able to feel you fingerspell, or when you make a few other simpler signs.  But we must destroy my optics. We cannot let them fall in the Agency’s hands. They will simply find another robot to put them in.”

Siren sighed.  [One who cannot say no.]

“Correct.”

Siren’s hands were still for a few moments.  [But.. we are agreed... We head for home?]

“Yes.  Once my optics are destroyed… we head for Walter Manor.”


	2. Chapter One

_ Present Day _

The Manor seemed bigger than she remembered.  Had she really been away for so long?

The gold robot tilted her head as she scanned up and down the front wall of the…eccentric looking home.  She'd only ever seen part of it when she was young. Before her thrice-damned creators had sold her and Void away.

She shook her head to clear those thoughts from her head.  No point in dwelling on the past, especially seeing as how they were up to VI now. 

There was no point in attributing the same hatred to this new Peter Walter.

* * *

It was still dark; only barely morning.  It was that perfect level of early twilight where even the animals were quiet.  She crept forward as quietly as her worn brass paneling would allow. Her joints occasionally stuck and most of her fingers on her left hand were completely non-functional due to her recent lack of maintenance. 

The Manor had no doors of course, but it felt strange to just walk in, even if the Manor was, technically, still her home.

It had been so long since she'd been here, what if the rooms or hallways had changed?  What if this new Peter Walter sent her back to the Agency? What if the other robots got mad at her?

She paused just outside, twisting her railroad cap in her fist.  She couldn't even  _ talk _ to them, to explain her situation.  Sure, she could sign, or write, but what if they needed her to speak? Void wasn’t here to feel her signs.

She hissed steam from her vents and frowned, stepping back down. Maybe this had been a bad idea.  With a nod to herself, she started away from the door, hugging the walls and creeping around towards the gardens of the Manor.  Some more observation was needed. She needed to see her siblings, she needed to see this new Reed, this new Walter.

Then she'd make a decision.

* * *

It was a rare day when all of the robots were in functioning order enough for a full day in the gardens.  Peter VI had made them all promise to stay out of any mud puddles and to avoid climbing trees, but other than that they'd been given free reign to play.

Or read, in The Spine's case.

"C-c-c-c'mon, The Spine, you  _ always _ read!" Rabbit pouted, hands on her hips as she stared her twin down.  "You never p-p-p-play with us!"

"Yeah!" Zero nodded.  "Even when Hatchworth and Upgrade and The Jon were here, you only did the one thing with us that was fun!"

"We had a concert to perform!" The Spine shook his head.  "And whenever I go to play with you, you always end up breaking my things!"  He vented steam from his cheeks. "And you drew on my RED FIRETRUCK!"

"It looks so much better now though!" Zero whined.

"Oh no," Rabbit stepped between her brothers.  "We're n-n-n-not getting into that one again!"

The Spine sighed, readjusting his hat.  "You're my siblings and I care about you, but I just want to read in the sunshine for a bit.  Then we can play together."

Rabbit pursed her lips.  "Okay, Spine. Zero and I will play tag, and then when you wanna play, we can play hide-and-seek!  Y-y-y-you like that game, right?"

The Spine nodded.  "Yes. We'll do that.  Maybe later we can play Wild Wild West…?"  The silver robot frowned as his siblings suddenly dashed off, leaving him waving a cloud of dust away from his face.  He sighed, steam leaking from his cheeks as he took his book and settled on a shaded bench to read. He'd read for about 15 minutes before he went off to wrangle his siblings.  That was about how long they could go without supervision anyway.

* * *

Siren tilted her head as she watched Zero and Rabbit run around the gardens, darting behind trees and bushes to avoid each other and laughing the whole time.  Her core ached to join them, to stand and let herself be seen, but… things had changed so much since she'd last seen them. The Jon and Upgrade and Hatchworth were nowhere to be found.  Had she and Void really been gone so long?

She remembered Rabbit before she'd received her upgrades.  She seemed so much happier now, without the strange melancholy that she'd always carried before they were separated.

The Spine was just as stoic as ever, the sun glinting off his titanium skin and fins.  He looked much better with the fins than the old smokestacks as she'd seen him in pictures.  The paneling on his face and neck looked much better too. He even had an inset panel in his cheek vents like she did.

And Zero was just as cheerful as he'd always been.  He always had a bright smile that warmed her core whenever her creators had tried to hide her from the others.  He and The Jon in particular were always there with a warm smile and welcoming hug whenever she or Void or both of them were allowed out, or escaped their workshops.

She felt her lips tilt up into a smile and startled herself with it.  It had been a long time since she had smiled without having to force it.  Any smiles she'd given were to lure in her targets or shut up her handlers.  A true smile of happiness hadn't graced her features since…

Since she'd been ripped from her family.

She shook her head once to clear the unhappy memories from her mind before settling back to watch her siblings play a bit longer.  Just a bit longer, then she'd reveal herself.

Just a bit longer, then they'd remember her.

* * *

Zero and Rabbit grinned as The Spine reluctantly began to count to 20.  With a shared mischievous glance, the dashed off in opposite directions, with Rabbit promptly diving into her own personal overgrown flower bushes.  Zero ran a bit farther, ducking behind a hedge and peeking around the corner at his older brother. He chuckled to himself, then frowned when he heard something shuffling behind him. "Hello?"  He turned around, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "Is someone there?"

He crept towards the sound, furrowing his brow when the shuffling only increased.  "Mister Reed? Steve Negrete? Is that you?"

The shuffling stopped for a moment as he pushed some foliage out of the way.  "Hello? Oh, hi!"

Another robot was hiding in the foliage, staring up at him with fear flickering in her optics.  She wore only a railroad cap and a tattered black jumpsuit, and her face and paneling was tarnished to a dull black and was already beginning to turn green in areas.

Zero smiled.  "Hi there. My name's Zero! What's yours?"

The other robot shied away from him, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around herself.  

Zero pinged her, sitting down when he got no response from her.  "What's the matter? Can't you talk?"

The robot looked away and shook her head.

"Oh."  Zero shrugged.  "But you can understand me?"

She nodded, still not meeting his gaze.

Zero studied her faceplate for a few minutes.  "You look familiar. Do I know you? Should I know you?  Maybe Th'Spine or Rabbit knows you?"

She shook her head again, then drew a line down her left arm from her shoulder to her wrist with an upright palm, then folded her hands and pulled them away from each other as if she were stretching something out.

Zero pursed his lips.  "What did all those motions mean?"

She opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.  Venting steam from the back of her neck, she touched her throat, then mimed something breaking into two pieces.

"Uh…your neck is broken?"

She shook her head again, then touched her throat and her mouth.

"FOUND YOU, ZERO!" Rabbit squealed, jumping out at him from behind and tackling him to the ground, making the other robot shy away again.

The Spine smacked his face with his hand.  "Rabbit, I thought I was seeking? Oh, uh… hello there?"  He quirked up an eyebrow at the other robot. "Who are you?"

Rabbit looked up and immediately leapt off of her younger brother and stepped in front of them.  "Intruder!"

The gold robot's optics widened and she quickly shook her head, rapidly hooking her two index fingers together and flipping them back and forth.

"I think she's broken. She can't talk."  Zero offered, brushing himself off. "She keeps making funny movements with her hands though."

"Stand down, Rabbit.  I don't think she means any harm."  The Spine said, placing a hand on his twin's shoulder.  "If she wanted to hurt Zero, she would've done so already."

"I'm calling Michael Reed." Rabbit pouted after a moment, venting steam from her vents.  "I don't trust her."

"The one time you're being sensible."  The Spine muttered, then turned back to the strange new robot.  "Huh. You look familiar, but… I can't place you. Have we met?"

The robot looked away, making the same series of gestures as before. 

The Spine quirked his eyebrow again.  "Is that American Sign Language?"

The robot looked up and nodded, her optics glowing a little bit brighter.

"Did you say: 'it's a long story'?"

She nodded again, allowing herself a smile.

The Spine nodded, returning her smile with one of his own as he heard Michael and Steve running across the garden.  "Can you spell out your name?"

The robot nodded, raising her right hand and forming the letters.   _ S-I-R-E-N _ .

"Si…Siren?  That's your name?" The Spine tipped his hat.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Siren."

"Siren?"  Zero's voice was pensive.  "I knew a Siren a long time ago.  She was really nice and like to play checkers.  And she had gold on her face."

Siren touched her faceplate with her right hand, smearing some grime around on her cheek.  She was in desperate need of some proper maintenance.

The Spine furrowed his brow.  "Huh. Now that you mention it, Zero, the name does sound familiar.  Though, I can't place how…"

Rabbit poked Siren in the arm.  "Yeah, me too. But I thought Upgrade and I were the only girl robots."

"You are."  The Spine shrugged.  "At least.. I think you are…"  He blinked a few times, turning to greet the two humans that joined them.  "Hello Mister Reed, Steve."

"What's the issue? Rabbit said there was an intruder?"  Steve sounded out of breath, but his gaze fell upon the gold robot in the bushes and he stopped.  "Where did you guys find another one?"

"Zero found her!" Rabbit grinned.

"She can't talk.  I think something's broken." Zero offered.  "But she's not mean. Her name is Siren."

Michael stepped forward, kneeling beside her.  "Can I touch your panels, Siren?" He asked, keeping his voice steady.  "Just to see what's wrong?"

Siren shied away from the head engineer as two more humans showed up, their skin pale and their hair blue from exposure to the Blue Matter in the Manor.   None of these people were Peter Walter VI. She made another series of gestures, as she scrambled away from him.

The Spine cleared his throat.  "It's alright, Siren. He won't hurt you."

Chelsea peered over Michael's shoulder.  "Is she one of ours? I've never seen her before."

The other robots all shrugged.  "I remember a Siren from a long time ago, but she was really shiny gold." Zero said.  "And Peter II and III didn't want us to talk to her. But we did anyway, and then…" He paused.  "And then… I don't remember."

Rabbit pursed her lips.  "I don't remember anything like that."

"Nor do I." The Spine added.  "But… I do remember the name 'Siren.'"

All four of the humans glanced around to each other as Michael stood up.  "Well, it's fairly obvious she doesn't want us to touch her." He said. "Steve, could you text Six?  If anyone has answers, it'll be him."

"You got it, Mike."

Zero sat back down beside the strange robot and smiled.  She'd been trembling slightly ever since Michael had asked to touch her.  "Hey, it's okay. Michael Reed is our human friend. He plays with us when we do shows, and he helps keep us up and running.  He won't hurt you."

Siren only briefly met his gaze, then looked back down at the ground, the brim of her hat hiding her eyes from The Spine and Rabbit, who still stood over her.

Zero continued on.  "And the Walter Workers are Chelsea and Camille.  They also help keep us online, but they mostly do emergency maintenance when we break down on stage.  Which happens a lot."

"No, that's Beebop being oversensitive."  The Spine scoffed, "He  _ thinks _ we're malfunctioning, when we're not, and when we do malfunction he's nowhere to be seen.  Or well, heard." He shrugged as he folded his legs under him and sat on the grass. "But don't worry about that.  Michael Reed and the Walter Workers are very good at their jobs."

Siren glanced up as Rabbit plopped down beside her, then quickly looked away again.  This is what she'd been afraid of. They didn't remember her. They couldn't remember her.  And here she was, hiding in their gardens, dirty, broken, and unable to speak. 

Rabbit poked at her shoulder and vented steam. “Well, you d-d-d-d-don’t seem all that bad.  And you have a cute hat! We l-l-l-l-love fantastic hats in this house! Don’t we, The Spine!”

“Yes.  Yes, we do.”  The Spine nodded, touching the brim of his fedora.  

“I want a hat.”  Zero pouted.

“You have your poof, Z-z-z-zero!” Rabbit beamed.  “Your cables make a little poof! It’s c-c-c-cute!”

Zero’s smile returned.  “Oh yeah! Me and my poof!”

Siren’s lips quirked up just a tiny bit as her siblings continued to chatter idly to each other.  Although The Spine seemed to be losing a bit more steam than Rabbit or Zero and had gone fairly quiet, only answering questions when prompted.  

“What’s all the commotion?”  Peter VI’s voice made everyone hush as Siren looked up, hugging her knees to her chest.

“Zero found another robot out here. She’s called Siren” Chelsea offered.  “She’s not very keen on anyone touching her, according to The Spine, she uses ASL to communicate, rather than speaking.”

Peter hummed his acknowledgement and knelt down to get a better look at the new robot.  “Well, you definitely need some maintenance.” He mumbled. “Optics are out of alignment, tarnished paneling, locked up joints…”

“I think she said something at her neck’s broken, too.”  Zero offered. 

Peter nodded.  “Hm. How long has it been since anyone’s had a look at your internals, Siren?” He asked, raising his shoulders to ‘smile’ at the new robot.

Siren looked away, then held up two fingers and circled them around her other closed fist.

“I don’t understand, can you-- oh, right. You can’t talk.”

The Spine cleared his throat.  “She said ‘two years’, Peter.”

“You… know ASL, Spine?” Camille asked.

“I know some basics.  I read a book on it.” The silver automaton shrugged.  “It was in Living Room 2 and I was bored.”

Peter shrugged.  “Either way, two years is a long time without any sort of maintenance, and your paneling shows it. What say we get you cleaned up and we’ll have a look at who made you.  See if we can’t get you home.”

Siren nodded, her eyes downcast.  Apprehension coiled around her core, a rattlesnake ready to strike at her when Peter inevitably saw that she was a product of Walter Robotics.   

All she could do was hope that they wouldn’t hate her for leaving her brother behind.

~~~

The Spine frowned as he watched the humans lead Siren back to the Manor, noting how her left knee and ankle seemed to stick every so often.  The black jumpsuit she wore had holes in several places, and he recognized a good portion of them as bullet holes. Rabbit stood at his side, poking him in the shoulder. “What’s eating ya, Th-th-th-th-the Spine?”

He pressed his lips into a thin line.  “Rabbit, how much do you remember about that time we were sent to war against the Germans?”

Rabbit cocked her head.  “Why?”

“Humor me for a moment, please.” The Spine vented steam from his upper fins.  “I know you don’t like to think about the wars we were in, but I have a hunch as to why she seems familiar.”

Rabbit sighed.  “Which time? We fought the Germans twice.”

“The second time.” The Spine shuddered.  He hated thinking about the second World War.

Rabbit grimaced.  “Not too much. Peter VI took some of those memories out for me, they kept falling into recursive loops when I was in stasis after my upgrade.”

Zero joined his siblings.  “I remember some.”

“Do you remember the start of it? When we were given our individual assignments?”

Rabbit and Zero both nodded.

“How many of us were there?”

“It was all of us.” Rabbit shrugged.  

“Almost all of us.” Zero shook his head.  “Miss Upgrade was working with all the nurses.”

“Oh yeah.” Rabbit nodded.  “But the rest of us were going to the front lines.”  She shuddered, then started counting on her fingers. “Me, you, The Spine, Hatchy, The Jon and… wait a minute.”

“There were more, weren’t there?” The Spine mumbled.  “Damn, why can’t I remember?” He thumped the side of his head with the heel of his palm.  

Zero frowned.  “I remember there being another one, too. At least…. I think it was another one.  I… I can’t remember… but I remember being sad. And angry.”

“I remember being mad, too.” Rabbit nodded.  “But… I don’t know why.”

The Spine vented some more steam.  “I’m going to find out why. Qwerty and Beebop should be able to help.”

“You mean like they did when you guys found me in the basement closet?” Zero asked.

“Yes.  Just like that, Zero.” The Spine nodded.  “I think we’ve had our memories altered. Only I don’t think Peter VI knows about this alteration.  He didn’t seem to recognize our guest, either.”

Rabbit shifted her weight.  “Sh-sh-sh-sh-shouldn’t we w-w-wait for Peter?  Or one of the Walter Workers? Or Michael Reed?”

Zero nodded.  “Rabbit’s right… that type of thing is dangerous, Th’Spine.  You could get hurt.”

The Spine sighed through his nose.  “I know it’s dangerous. But… I can’t stand not being able to remember fully.”

“I kind of remember.” Zero shrugged.  “Maybe if I tell you what I can remember, you guys will remember some too?”

“Yeah, l-l-l-l-let’s do that first, The Spine.” Rabbit mumbled.  “I don’t like it when we have to go rooting around in my head. It feels staticky and w-w-w-weird.”

The Spine nodded.  “Alright. That seems like a fair compromise while we wait for the humans to finish.”   He sat back down on the grass, letting Rabbit lean on his shoulder as Zero started talking about a golden robot who liked checkers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long delay in updates. Life got in the way.
> 
> Enjoy chapter 3!

“Boss…” Michael wiped sweat from his forehead as he stared at the new robot’s blue core.  “That’s patented Walter tech right there.”

Peter VI hummed to himself.  “I can see that. The question remains: Who is she?  There’s no record of a ‘Siren’ being made by any of the family.”

“The Beciles are known for ripping off Walter tech.” Chelsea suggested.  “Maybe she’s one of theirs?”

“Doubtful.” Peter sighed.  “The three Becile robots were direct rip-offs of a Walter ‘bot.  She doesn’t seem to have a counterpart.”

Chelsea frowned. “What about Upgrade?” She said, not taking her eyes of the new robot in front of them.

“Maybe but,” Peter shook his head. “Becile’s robots all used Green matter.  She’s using Blue… just like all of ours.”

“And a Becile creation probably would have attacked us by now. At least the ‘bots anyway.” Michael shrugged.  

“And the names don’t match.” Camille added.  “All of the Becile bots’ names were similar to our robots.  You know: Hare to Rabbit, Skull to Spine… Siren doesn’t match Upgrade…”

Michael nodded.  “Okay, so she’s most likely not a Becile robot.  But that doesn’t explain why she’s here, why there’s no record of her creation, or why it looks like she’s been through a battlezone within the past month or so.”

“Let’s get to work on fixing her up.” Peter sighed.  “Then maybe we can get some answers.”

The other three humans agreed and set to their tasks.

It took them most of the day to get her joints cleaned out and the damage to her paneling patched.  Michael had spent a good portion of his time working on her boiler and coolant pumps, repairing the damage that could have only been caused by bullets.  Chelsea and Camille had tag-teamed working on her joints and cleaning up her undamaged panels, restoring them to a ‘healthy’ gold color.

Peter had the most on his plate.  He’d spent the whole time working at her head, updating her operating systems and linking her up to the robots’ local network and the Manor Wi-Fi.  Then he’d worked on restoring the functionality of the fiber optic cabling that seemed to be her ‘hair.’

He hadn’t even had a chance to open up her neck panels and start working on restoring her voice.

Chelsea set the Siren’s faceplate down on the table beside Peter, with the grime cleared off and new rivets put in place for when Peter was ready to reattach it.  The brass now shone its proper golden color, with only a few spaces of oxidation left around her optics and eyebrows, giving the impression of eyeshadow, and the rivet holes, which were just too small to really clean properly.

Camille ended up opening the neck panels, intending to start cleaning up the joints, but stopped short.  “Uh… Peter?”

“Hm?”

“Her voice box… it’s completely missing.”

Peter looked up from her cabling.  “What?”

Michael and Chelsea both stopped their work

“It’s gone.  There’s just an empty space.” She furrowed her brow.  “Well, almost empty. Looks like she has some sort of secondary machining, but it looks damaged.

Michael gently moved Camille out of the way, peering into Siren’s neck cavity and frowning.  “It’s damaged alright. Looks like some of the circuits have been completely burned out. Others have been cut.”

Peter sighed, looking over Michael’s shoulder.  “It’s going to take much longer for me to build her a new voice box from scratch.  We can try and repair the second one, but I don’t know what it does and I’m loathe to work on something without blueprints or plans.”

“Maybe we can wake her up and ask?” Camille suggested.  “Have her hook up to the Wi-Fi and have Qwerty or one of the robots speak for her?”

“Or have her write her answers down.  Or have Spine translate her sign language.” Chelsea added.

Peter nodded.  “All of those are good ideas.  Let’s get her put back together for now, then we’ll wake her up.  Camille, would you run and tell the robots to pull back off the Wi-Fi?  I don’t want to overwhelm her right off the bat.”

Camille nodded and left the lab, jogging down the corridor towards the gardens while Chelsea and Michael quickly cleaned the joints in Siren’s neck and started closing and sealing the repaired paneling while Peter gently reattached her faceplate.

* * *

Camille found all of the robots sitting in the grass where they’d found Siren, all frowning.  “Guys?”

The Spine looked up at her.  “Oh, hello Camille. Is something wrong?”

“Six is about to wake Siren up and let her connect to the Wi-Fi.  Can you guys pull back off of the network as much as possible?”

Rabbit stood.  “Is she a Walter robot?”

Camille nodded.  “We think so. She’s got a Blue Matter core and a boiler just like all of yours.  Just no real weaponry.”

Zero and The Spine shared a brief look before the older robot spoke.  “We think we knew her, but our memories seem to be blocked off. Like they were with Zero.”

Camille pursed her lips.  “Hm. I’ll talk to Mike and Steve, see if we can’t do some digging.”

“Ask her if she likes checkers.”  Zero said. “The Siren I remember liked checkers… I think.”

Camille nodded again.  “Alright. You guys off the network?”

The robots all nodded, with Rabbit clinging to The Spine’s arm.  Trying to remember anything regarding Siren had turned into her remembering a lot of things that she hadn’t wanted.  

The Spine wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulder as they followed Camille into the Manor.  

Zero trailed behind them, still trying to remember anything more substantial about this strange young robot.

* * *

[External Startup Command accepted; Good Morning, Siren.]   
[Updating internal chronometer…]   
[...complete]   
[New software detected; processing…]   
[...]   
[...]   
[...]   
[... complete.]   
[Connecting to new local area network…]   
[... complete.]   
[External Diagnostic Command accepted: Full System Diagnostic]   
[...]   
[...]   
[...]   
[Warning: Primary Vocal Processing Hardware Not Found - Recommend immediate replacement by a Walter Robotics employee.]   
[Warning:  Malfunction detected in Secondary Vocal Processing Hardware - Recommend immediate maintenance by a Walter Robotics employee.]   
[Diagnostic Complete: All other systems nominal.]   
[Activating ‘Wake-Up’ Protocols.]

Siren blinked a few times, focusing her optics as she sat up. She vented a burst of steam from her cheeks and glanced to Peter VI and Michael, before touching her hand to the forehead and flicking it away from her, almost like a mock salute.

Michael nodded.  “Hello. How’re you feeling?  Any better?”

Siren nodded, taking her hat from Chelsea’s proffered hands, touching her chin with her fingers and then making a subtle gesture to the woman, before tugging the railroad cap back onto her head.

Chelsea smiled.  “You’re welcome.”

“Siren,” Peter’s voice was quiet and gentle, a far cry from the way Two would speak to her.  “We went to repair your voice box, but it seems to have been ripped out completely…”

Siren nodded, knowing full well where the conglomeration of cogs and wires was.

“But there was some sort of… additional mechanism there too.  Do you know what that is? What it does?” 

Siren glanced between the humans and shook her head, clamping one hand over the rubber casing of her neck and frantically tapping her index and middle fingers to her thumb. 

Michael and Peter shared a glance when Siren released a massive burst of steam.  “Hey, calm down, it’s okay.” Michael offered. “It’s okay, what’s wrong?”

Siren’s hands flew, her signs far too rapid for any of the humans to even begin to try and decipher them.   

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Siren, slow down!” Chelsea soothed, stepping forward.  “Slow down, we can’t understand you.”

Peter cleared his throat.  “Siren, hold on. You should have access to the Manor’s Wi-Fi system now.  Can you feel it? I’ve asked the robots to back off, but Beebop should still be online.  Can you connect to that?”

Siren’s hands stilled after she vented steam again.  She hesitantly felt the network connection, and Beebop’s deep voice welcomed her to the Manor.  She could vaguely feel several other connections, all of them weak or limited. She chewed lightly on her lower lip, trying to make sense of the new network.

Michael cleared his throat.  “You should be able to get a hold of any of the robots through the Wi-Fi, or directly, if you’re close enough to them.  You can also text our phones, too.”

Siren nodded, still extraordinarily confused by the new software.  She hadn’t been upgraded at all since she was ripped from the Manor, so learning new software wasn’t her forte.  

“Can you text one of us?” Camille asked.  “So we can know what you're saying? None of us know much sign language.”

Siren touched each of the connections, trying to identify them, but wasn’t having much luck.  She picked one of the stronger signals and hesitantly sent a message.

Chelsea’s phone buzzed in her pocket.  She frowned at the screen once she read it, but brightened her expression when she looked back up at Siren.  “That’s progress!” She smiled. “But the message is in binary. Try again, you’ll get the hang of it.”

Siren vented steam at her mistake and looked at the ground, making a fist and touching it to her chest in a small circle. 

Michael frowned.  “Hey, it’s okay. Zero took a bit of time to get used to it too.  Just try again. You’re doing fine.”

Siren worked her jaw for a moment before hesitantly pushing another message to the same signal.

{Sorry.}

Chelsea’s eyes lit up.   “It’s okay. You did it!” She showed her phone screen to the android.  “Good job!”

Peter VI glanced at the screen. “Don’t be sorry.  You were running a very old version of Qwerty. The updates will take some getting used to.  I’m sure the other robots will be happy to help you learn.” He folded his hands behind his back, bouncing onto his toes.  “We’ll come back to the questions about your voicebox, alright? Once you learn your way around the network and you’re more comfortable.”

Siren nodded, standing as the humans started to file out of the room.  Only Chelsea stayed behind. “Would you like me to walk you back to the robots?”

Siren shrugged, then nodded after a moment’s hesitation.  This Walter Worker seemed nice enough. Nothing like Two.

* * *

The various connections in her mind began to light up, becoming more active the further from the workshop they got..  Others began to fade. But she still couldn’t make heads or tails of them. Nothing felt familiar, nothing felt normal.   
  
Maybe she  _ had _ been away too long.

Chelsea led her to Living Room Two and stopped just shy of the circle of robots, offering Siren a reassuring smile   “Go on. I’ll be back here if you need anything.”   
  
Siren vented steam from her neck and took a few steps toward her siblings, unsure how to get thier attention.   
  
“But she  _ really  _ liked checkers.  I remember that. We played a lot of checkers.” Zero was smiling. “And hide and seek.  She was really good at it, she’d be gone really long times.”   
  
“I… don’t think that was hide-and-seek.”  The Spine tilted his head. “Games like that normally only last an hour or two.  Even with us.”   
  
“Unless we’re hiding from GG.”  Rabbit mumbled.   
  
“True.” The Spine shrugged.  “Oh! Siren, you’re back!”    
  
Siren offered a weak smile, nodding.

“Peter g-g-get you all fixed up?” Rabbit asked, moving that much closer to The Spine to make room for the gold robot.  “You l-l-look so much pr-pr-prettier now!”

“Yeah! Your face is all shiny!” Zero beamed, patting the grass beside him.  “Come sit! We were talking about checkers!”

Siren folded her legs under her, playing with the shoelace on her boots, but otherwise stayed quiet and still.  Despite everyone’s welcoming demeanor, she kept waiting for them to turn on her… to realise she was bad or wrong and send her away.   
  
“Siren, are you on the Wi-Fi now?” The Spine asked, undeterred by her stillness.  “I thought I felt a new connection.”   
  
Siren nodded, glancing up for only a moment.   
  
Rabbit beamed. “G-g-g-great!!! Now you can talk to us without having to find us!  Or you can talk to us while doing important stuff with y-y-your hands! The Spine said you talk with your hands, right?!  He shared all his know-how w-w-with us, so we all can know what you’re saying… signing... whatever.”

Siren nodded.  [I’m on the network.]  She signed, hesitating for a moment.  [I do not know who is who.]

“Oh.”  The Spine vented steam.  “Yeah, that makes sense.”   
  
“We can do what we did when I got upgraded!” Zero beamed.  “We’ll go one at a time, ping your connection with our names, so you can file them however you want.”

“I’ll go first!” Rabbit offered, sending the new brass robot a message that was more emoji than name.

Siren blinked a few times, quietly filing away Rabbit’s connection ID.  [Okay. I think I did that right.] She signed. 

The Spine was next, then Zero, then Steve and Michael Reed each sent her a message, no doubt at one of her siblings’ insistence.

Zero beamed.  “So where’d you come from?  Were you hiding in the gardens all this time?”

Siren vented steam.  [No.] She signed, her hands faltering in mid-air as she tried to figure out what to say.  [We were running. We had to leave. They wanted to hurt us.]

The Spine arched an eyebrow.  “‘We?’ Siren, is there another robot?”

Siren hissed out steam from her cheeks, raising her hand and spelling out another word: V-O-I-D.

“Void?”  The Spine tilted his head.

“Who’s Void?” Rabbit asked.  “Is he y-y-y-your friend?”

Zero pursed his lips as Siren began to sign again.

[He is my brother.] She looked away. [They were chasing us.  He’s blind, and he couldn’t see in the forest. I had to leave him.]  Steam leaked from her cheeks and neck as oil welled in her optics. [I don’t even know if he’s still alive.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!
> 
> Author's blog: https://simpleenthusiast.tumblr.com/


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